The osad service does not start (RHEL 5.7) and throws the following error:

Starting osad: Unable to load module osad

Background & Analysis:

The osad service is required on all Red Hat Network Satellite clients to receive pushed actions from the RHN Satellite Server. For more details on the osad and related services, please refer this Spacewalk (open-source version of RHN Satellite) article.

Solution:

The osad service depends on the python-hashlibs package.

STEP 1: Install python-hashlibs

Install python-hashlibs as follows:

sudo rpm -ivh <package>

where <package>= the name of the python-hashlibs rpm

Refer the screenshot below:

NOTE: You may also use a "yum install" if python-haslibs is available in any of your your yum repositories.

(1) The solution above describes a successful problem-solving experience and may not be applicable to other problems with similar symptoms.

(2) Your rating of this post will be much appreciated as it gives me and others who read this article, an indication of whether this solution has worked for people other than me. Also, feel free to leave comments.